No Montreal Jazz in London Lightning lineup this year

By Staff Metro London

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The London Lightning's Gabe Freeman hustles to the net at Budweiser Gardens.

The London Lightning will have one less opponent this year.

Governors with the National Basketball League of Canada have decided “it is in the best interests” of the league for the Montreal Jazz to sit out for the upcoming season, according to a statement released Monday.

Several potential ownership groups had expressed interest in buying the Jazz from the league, but renovations scheduled for this winter at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre complicated matters, the statement says.

“Management at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre has been extremely professional, and good to the Jazz and NBL Canada,” said league president and CEO Andre Levingston. “Montreal is a very important market to our league, and we look forward to the Jazz playing in the 2014-15 season.”